Former GOP House veterans panel chairman goes to K Street

Former Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), an early supporter of President Trump who retired from Congress at the end of last year, is joining law and lobby firm McDermott Will & Emery, the firm will announce Monday.

He’ll serve as a senior legislative adviser at the firm, a bipartisan counterweight to a government strategies department that also features former Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.).

“I wasn’t quite sure when I left Congress what I wanted to do on a full-time basis, but I knew I wanted to stay involved in policy work and education,” Miller told The Hill in a telephone interview Friday.

He said he looked at various options around Washington, but decided on McDermott Will & Emery after going through the interview process.

Miller says he “felt they were the best fit.” He starts the new gig Monday.

The Florida lawmaker served on Capitol Hill from 2001 to the end of 2016. He has a one-year “cooling off” period that started in January keeping him from lobbying his former colleagues.

However, Miller is free to lobby the administration right away.

“I … will hit the ground running and we’ll be talking with current clients at the firm and begin the process of recruiting new clients as well,” he said Friday.

During the presidential campaign, Miller supported Trump and attended a meeting last April with national security advisers on Capitol Hill. He was floated as an option to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs at one point.

Miller served as chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and spent eight years on the House Intelligence Committee.

“Jeff’s knowledge of the Administration will be of great value to clients,” Steve Ryan, the head of McDermott’s government strategies practice, said in a statement.

McDermott Will & Emery serves both law and lobbying clients, and earned more than $3.4 million in lobbying fees last year.

Its clients include the Mayo Clinic, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Amgen, and the Brewers Association.

“His congressional experience will enhance our ability to serve clients in the health care, defense and intelligence industries, and he will provide our government contracting clients with valuable insights and comprehensive solutions to a wide range of complex issues,” Ryan added.

The firm says that he’ll be helping out with advocacy, but also government contracting and congressional investigations.

“Jeff and I have a combined 40 years of congressional experience,” Moran said. “We both made it a point to work across the aisle during our years on the Hill, and I am looking forward to working with Jeff to provide McDermott’s clients with the bipartisan approach they are looking for in today’s political climate.”